Mrs Yoop of Oz
by Romantic Twist
Summary: Another adventure of Woot the Wanderer and what subsequently happened to Mrs Yoop the giantess.


Story notes:

L Frank Baum wrote many sequel novels to his book "The Wizard of Oz". This new tale of mine is a short story sequel to the 12th book in Baum's series "The Tin Woodman of Oz." All of the original characters (specifically the Tin Woodman, Mr & Mrs Yoop, Ozma, the Scarecrow and Woot the Wanderer) are all the creations of L Frank Baum. No copyright infringement is intended in this story. It is written for entertainment purposes only. The story starts with a brief synopsis of events detailed in "The Tin Woodman of Oz." If you haven't read that novel yet, and don't want the entire plot spoilt, please don't read my story yet.

What has transpired before: The Tin Woodman, the Scarecrow and a 16 year old Winkie lad named Woot the Wanderer (from Winkie country) visited Yoop Castle, to learn that Mr Yoop the giant had been imprisoned in a cave, after making a habit of stealing people's cows. In Yoop Castle, they met Mrs Yoop the Giantess, who was a Yookoohoo (an Artist in Transformations). Mrs Yoop wickedly used her power to amuse herself by transforming the Scarecrow and Woot and the Tin Woodman into other forms, and laughing at their helplessness, knowing that nothing could undo their transformations. Woot had become a green monkey. The Tin Woodman had become a Tin Owl. The Scarecrow had become a straw Bear. Ozma, the ruler of Oz had seen these developments in her Magic Picture and managed to reshape the Tin Owl into its original Tin Woodman form, and to reshape the straw Bear into its original straw Scarecrow form. Yet she had been unable to reverse Mrs Yoop's permanent transformation of Woot the boy into a green monkey. Ozma had settled for transforming Mrs Yoop into the form of Woot the Wanderer and then exchanging the two forms, leaving Mrs Yoop with the appearance that she had inflicted on Woot.

Now a new part in these tales begins:

Since the Land of Oz had first been cut off from the outside world, everyone had retained the age that they had reached at that time. People who came to Oz from the outside world (such as Dorothy Gale of Kansas, the Wizard, Button Bright and others) immediately ceased aging as well in Oz.

Before she had been turned into a green monkey, Mrs Yoop the Giantess had been 24 for many years. Woot the Wanderer was still 16.

It was 1919 in the world outside Oz. Unaware of the Wizard's flights to and from Oz in a hot air balloon, a reclusive wealthy man called Francis Chic had managed to build one of the earliest airship dirigibles. He used it to fly back and forth, to and from an otherwise unreachable part of the Blue Mountains in New South Wales in the country of Australia. On an uncharted plateau, he unloaded the building materials he had purchased from various stores in Katoomba, Lithgow and Leura.

He finished his house just before winter of 1914, and had built it complete with a huge dance hall and an indoor swimming pool. Francis would fly his airship to and from his house in order to go shopping or on outings.

In 1919, Francis decided that he wanted to see other countries. He filled his airship with supplies and travelled to the United States of America. He drew markings on maps, charting his journey as he went.

After extensive exploration from the air, he came to a desert, which was not on any of the regular flight paths. Francis did not know that this was the Deadly Dessert, which separated Oz from the rest of the world. He continued to fly the airship, until he landed in Winkie Country, one of the four main kingdoms of Oz.

The first person Francis encountered was Woot the Wanderer, who welcomed him into his home for refreshments, and told Francis all about Oz.

"I wish I could stay here," said Francis, who had been retreating from the realities of the world for years.

"You don't know what you're asking," said Woot, and went on to tell Francis about his encounter with Mrs Yoop.

"Have you told anyone that the experience has left you deeply upset?" asked Francis, "I can tell. You're particularly angry in your facial expression, every time you mention magic."

"Magic is responsible for all of the perils and troubles in the Land of Oz," said Woot, "Most people think that there is evil magic and good magic, but I don't agree. Princess Ozma uses Her Magic Picture to watch the secret lives of anyone she chooses in the kingdom. Mrs Yoop's magic inflicted my transformation into that green monkey. Ozma's onstensibly good magic was unable to come up with a better solution than transferring the wicked enchantment onto Mrs Yoop herself. Magic enchanted Nick Chopper's axe, until it cut off all of his human parts, which then had to be replaced with tin. This land is regulated by Ozma and a witch called Glinda. Both of them use their magic to impose Ozma's will on the people of all four kingdoms: Winkie Country, Gillikin Country, Munchkin Country and Quadling Country. It overrides people's natural human abilities in a way I don't like. I'd like to leave Oz forever and go to a place where there was no magic."

"Most of the world's like that," said Francis, "What prevents you from leaving?"

"I have no way to get over the four deserts that surround the Land of Oz. You came over the Deadly Desert, which leads out from Winkie Country. The Impassable Desert leads out from Gillikin Country. The Shifting Sands lead out from Munchkin Country, and the Great Sandy Waste separates Quadling Country from the world beyond in the South. Apart from that, I'd have nowhere to live outside Oz."

"And I'd have nowhere to live inside Oz," said Francis, "You could have my house and my airship, if you really want to leave. All I ask in return is to live in your house in Winkie Country."

"How would I find your house?" asked Woot, "From what I've heard of the outside world, after talking to Dorothy Gale, it's much larger than Oz, and I'm completely unfamiliar with it."

"I charted my way here from Australia," said Francis, "My house is in an uncharted part of the Blue Mountains. I could draw up some extra maps and write some details of how to find my house, before you go, if you decide to make the exchange."

"I think I'd be getting the best of the deal," said Woot, "But if you're determined to stay here anyway, I might as well take the chance to leave. I'll agree to this exchange that you have suggested."

"You'd best stock up with as much food as possible," said Francis, "I've used most of my supplies getting here. I'm going to stay here with the riches of this country. I never married and had any children. So I will hand write a will now, leaving all of my wealth to you."

The two made their preparations, and then Woot lifted into the air, and began to fly the dirigible, but not back the same way that Francis had come … not yet. He would have to leave Oz from Winkie Country, in order to follow Francis's charts. However, he wanted to make another journey within Oz first. It would be his last.

"You might well be watching me even now, Ozma," thought Woot, "But please don't try to stop me leaving, whatever you do. I am grateful that you effectively freed me from Mrs Yoop's transformation, but I don't want to stay here any longer."

First though, Woot the Wanderer needed some closure over his encounter with Mrs Yoop. He flew the airship on a direct course for Yoop Castle. He passed over the Rolling Prairie and left Winkie Country. Once he had entered Gillikin Country, Woot soared over the Scarecrow's Tower, past the Tin Woodman's Castle, over the Tree of Whutter Wee, over Loonville, missing the Emerald City completely and hoping that Ozma had better things to do than monitor his flight in her Magic picture.

Woot finally crossed the Rolling Lands of Gillikin Country and reached Yoop Castle. Landing the airship atop the castle, he did not need to concern himself with the difficulty of opening the giant door this time. He found a way down into the castle, and searched for the Green Monkey who had once been Mrs Yoop. He wanted her to know why he was leaving Oz entirely.

After a lengthy and exhaustive search of the castle, he found that nobody was there. He did manage to find a giant sized diary, which belonged to Mrs Yoop. He sat and read the entire diary. It told of her marriage to her husband, his subsequent capture and imprisonment, her capture and transformation of Polychrome, and her transformations of Woot and the Tin Woodman and Scarecrow.

Woot turned to read the next page, and found that the handwriting lacked all of the elegance of Mrs Yoop's handwriting style on all of the previous pages.

He read the first line:

I AM NOW WRITING AS A GREEN MONKEY.

"Of course!" thought Woot, "This is what she wrote after Ozma exchanged our forms. I got my original Winkie boy form back, and Mrs Yoop has had to try to manipulate a giant pen as a green monkey.

He continued to read the awkwardly scrawled capital letters:

I HAVE BEEN PUNISHED FOR MY CRUEL TRICK ON MY LITTLE VISITORS. I NO LONGER HAVE MY YOOKOOHOO POWERS, AND I AM TRAPPED IN THE FORM OF A GREEN MONKEY, HAVING BEEN ALTERED BY PRINCESS OZMA INTO THE VERY SHAPE THAT I HAD CONDEMNED WOOT TO WEAR.

I WAITED SO PATIENTLY FOR MY HUSBAND, AFTER HE WAS IMPRISONED, HOPING FOR SOME SORT OF REPRIEVE, AND AMUSING MYSELF IN THE MEANTIME BY CHANGING THE FORMS OF OTHERS. YET WHEN HE LEARNED OF MY OWN TRANSFORMATION, EVEN AS I VISITED HIM IN THE CAVE OF HIS IMPRISONMENT, MY HUSBAND SAID THAT HE NO LONGER WISHED TO BE MARRIED TO A WIFE WHO WOULD REMAIN A GREEN MONKEY FOR THE REST OF HER DAYS.

I HAD NEVER KNOWN ANY SERIOUS DISPLEASURE IN MY LIFE BEFORE, UNTIL I WAS FORCED TO ACCEPT THE FATE I HAD WILLED ONTO THE WINKIE BOY WOOT. I NOW UNDERSTAND THE WICKEDNESS OF MY WAYS. YET THE LESSON COMES WITH NO OPPORTUNITY FOR IMPROVEMENT OF MY SITUATION. THOUGH I CANNOT CHANGE MY OWN CIRCUMSTANCES, I DEEPLY REGRET THE DISTRESS I CAUSED WOOT AND THE OTHERS, BUT ESPECIALLY WOOT, AS I NOW WEAR THE FORM THAT HE HAD ENDURED. I KNOW EXACTLY HOW HE FELT.

MY CASTLE IS OF NO VALUE TO ME IN THIS FORM. AS A MONKEY, I BELONG MORE SUITABLY IN A FOREST, WHERE AT LEAST I CAN SWING AROUND IN THE TREES AND SUBSIST ON THE FOOD EATEN BY MONKEYS. I WOULD IDEALLY LIKE TO LIVE IN THE BLUE FOREST OF MUNCHKIN COUNTRY. HOWEVER, AS I AM NO LONGER A GIANTESS, THE JOURNEY WOULD BE VERY DIFFICULT TO MAKE IN THE FORM OF A MONKEY.

SO I HAVE DECIDED TO ABANDON MY HOME AND HEAD OVER THE NEARBY GILLIKAN MOUNTAINS, THROUGH THE BACKWOODS AND INTO THE FOREST OF GUGU. IF MY HUSBAND SHOULD FIND AND READ THIS, AND DECIDE TO RENEG ON OUR SEPARATION, I CAN BE FOUND IN GUGU.

Woot had come to Yoop Castle to tell Mrs Yoop that he was leaving Oz, because his experience with her had damaged his trust of people entirely. He had once come to her as one of three weary travellers and had been treated with callous contempt for her own entertainment, consigned to the form of an animal forever just to give Mrs Yoop her latest cause to laugh. He had wanted her to see the consequences of her activities.

Yet she had already learned a great deal from the discovery of the underdog's role in the disturbingly magical culture of Oz. Woot had learned enough of Oz's history, to know that many people would put on a show of repentance, when it meant some hope of being treated leniently. Yet Mrs Yoop had already faced the fact that her punishment was permanent, and had still repented. She was genuinely sorry for what she had done to Woot, because she had come to understand its effect on him, not because she had been punished for it.

Repentance with no opportunity to escape living endlessly in a tormented state seemed pointless to Woot. There had to be a better option than that. It had to be an option that magic could not account for. Woot sat and thought for hours, and then it came to him.

"I know what to do!" he exclaimed, "Magic can't possibly be the solution, if it's the cause of the problem. Oz wasn't always cut off from the rest of the world. People weren't meant to live forever in a potentially discomforting state. The answer must be outside Oz, in a place where women are not granted extraordinairy magical powers over men, and where they don't rule the world."

Woot climbed back to the roof of Yoop Castle. His search had taken a long time, because of his size, compared to the giant steps. When he had first met Mrs Yoop, she had been sitting on a chair in her dining room. His head had just come up to her knee. Woot was 5 foot 10 inches tall at an age where boys had finished their final height growth in the rest of the world. Mrs Yoop had been 18 foot 2 inches tall as a giantess, but was now even smaller than Woot in the form of the Green Monkey.

Now it took Woot an enormous effort to ascend the steps to the roof of the castle. They would have been as easily ascended by Mrs Yoop's giant legs, as normal sized steps would have been to Woot in Winkie Country and the Emerald City.

Woot reached his airship and flew it across Gillikan Mountains and landed just outside the Forest of Gugu. He took a spare book of blank paper from the airship, as well as a pen, and wandered into the forest, until he found the Green Monkey.

"Mrs Yoop?" he asked, "Nod your head if it's you."

The Monkey nodded.

"Someone from the world outside Oz left me an airship," said Woot, "With it, I am going to fly over the Deadly Dessert, and into a house which the outsider has exchanged for my former home in Winkie Country. Take this pen and paper, so that we can communicate. I believe that if I took you with me, the effects of the Oz-based Yookoohoo transformation magic, and Ozma's subsequent exchange magic would no longer be applicable. You would revert to being a giantess, but without the magical powers of a Yookoohoo. Your green monkey form would no longer trouble you as it once troubled me. I can't guarantee that it would work, but please write what you think."

Mrs Yoop wrote on the paper.

"I THINK IT WOULD WORK. I WOULD LIKE TO TRY. THANK YOU. I AM GLAD THAT YOUR AIRSHIP TRAVELS BROUGHT YOU TO MY FOREST."

"Let's go then," said Woot.

He led Mrs Yoop to his airship, and they took off. From Gugu, they flew over Gillikin River and the Laughing Willows, into Winkie Country, over Tune Town and Sun Top Mountain, over Wish Way and over the Deadly Desert. As they entered the United States of America, a significant change came over Mrs Yoop.

Sensing what was happening to her, Mrs Yoop lay down, so that her new form would take advantage of the horizontally distributed abundance of space in the airship. The Green Monkey rapidly took on the original shape of Mrs Yoop. Lying beside him in a long patterned long sleeved dress, a necklace and a pair of shoes was a giant woman, 18 foot 2 inches tall. Her hair was partly done up behind her head in a style which was neither a ponytail nor a bun. Mrs Yoop had a long neck which made her considerable height stand out even more, and heightened the elegant beauty of her natural appearance.

Woot was not sure what to say next.

"The airship seems to be able to cope with your size," said Woot, "And I'm glad you had the foresight to lie down. Will you mind journeying to Australia like this, or would you rather make your home in this America that Francis told me about? I can appreciate that you wouldn't want to lie down for a long journey."

"I don't know," said Mrs Yoop, "I'm still so surprised that you offered to help me, and so relieved that it worked. Why did you do it, after what I put you through?"

"I read your diary in Yoop Castle," said Woot, "That's how I found you. It was no coincidence that brought me to the Forest of Gugu. So you see, I already know that you're sorry. I was never pleased that Ozma and Glinda never suggested this, but were content to consign you to the form of a Green Monkey forever. If I could forgive you, so could they."

"Why did it matter to you?" she asked, "I only got what I deserved."

"We all make mistakes, and some seem more cruel than others. Yet we can all forgive. But you do realise that my solution separates you from any possibility of reconciliation with Mr Yoop."

"I know, but I do not consider that to be anything of a loss. He abandoned me, after I treated him well as a loyal wife, even unto his own hard times. He returned that loyalty with betrayal. On the other hand, I treated you inexcusably and you repaid that by saving me from the results of the reversal. I've no desire to go back to Mr Yoop, not even if I could keep my giantess form in Oz. I want to go to Australia with you. Lying down is not so bad, certainly not as bad as being a green monkey. Besides, it's the natural position for sleeping, which would help at least me pass the time. I guess you'll have to stop the airship when you need your rest."

"Yes. Mrs Yoop, I still have one more thing to tell you, and when you hear it, I don't know if you will want to stay in Australia with me. There was one other reason that I thought that it was awful to see you stuck in that Green Monkey form."

"What is that?" asked Mrs Yoop.

"I think you are the most beautiful woman of Oz."

Mrs Yoop was lying down, with her chin resting in her hand, as her elbow supported her upturned arm. Her head was facing towards Woot, who sat on the floor of the airship beside her. When she heard his compliment, her mouth dropped wide open in surprise, and her eyes stared at him, albeit very pleasantly.

"I'm … deeply flattered," she said.

"I would have been ashamed to tell you about it when we first met. You were still married then. I don't mean to trivialize your separation from Mr Yoop. Marriage is meant to be forever, but since you no longer are married, I want you to know how lovely you look to me, Mrs Yoop."

"Did I make an impression on you even back then?" she asked.

"Yes, but it wasn't only your magic which made a negative impression on me. I was planning to leave Oz anyway, to come here, where there is no magic at all. I found myself opposed to all magic. The concept of Ozma gaining Secret Knowledge from her Magic Picture still irks me enormously, even though it led to my liberation from the green monkey form. Your magical transformation powers are gone forever, whether in Oz or on earth, but other people in Oz still have their magic. So it is really them that led me to consider leaving Oz altogether. I will not regret having helped you, no matter what you think of me, but I feel very sure that I would fall in love with you, if encouraged to do so, Mrs Yoop."

"I just hope there'll be room for me in this house you've inherited," said Mrs Yoop.

She gave Woot a kiss that touched the entire left side of his face.

Woot followed all of the directions he had received from Francis, and eventually landed the airship on the Blue Mountains plateau beside the house.

"My new house is as new to me as it will be to you," said Woot, as Mrs Yoop squeezed her large form out of the dirigible.

They explored the property, Mrs Yoop from the outside and Woot from the inside using the key that Francis had left him. He soon opened the dance hall door, and gave Mrs Yoop some pleasant news.

"You'll be able to just stand up in this room!" he said and showed her in, "My mind is racing with possibilities to make you at home here. I can use some of the money I've inherited to buy lots of mattresses, join them together, and stitch lots of blankets together and lots of sheets together, to make giant sized bedclothes for you. A small mattress would even serve as a pillow. I'll get started, by making the trip to find the shops in the airship tomorrow."

"I don't know what to say," said Mrs Yoop.

"Francis' old bedroom can be mine for now."

"Until when?" asked Mrs Yoop.

"Until we're - … I'm sorry. I don't mean to be so presumptuous," said Woot, "I should have more sensitivity to the fact that you and Mr Yoop haven't been separated for even a year yet."

"We've been living apart ever since he was imprisoned years ago. I was still his loyal wife then, but I've had years to get used to my situation, and a very pleasant day in an airship to look forward to changing it," she said, "But I would like you to be more specific."

"Well … I would like to convert the dance hall to a long term guest room for you, for a year or so, and then I would like it to become OUR room. Mrs Yoop, I promise you that what happened when we first met will be forgotten completely, and I will never ever mention it again. I don't want you to feel in any way uncomfortable about it. I don't yet know what could be done to make up a giant engagement ring, but would you do me the great pleasure and honour of becoming my wife?"

"Oh Woot, you're such a handsome, sweet, shy young man. Are you of marrying age yet?"

"I'm 16, but I'll gain a year of age every year that passes, now that we're on earth."

"So will I though. I'm 24 now. Will you still love me, when I'm 34?"

"I should think I'd be the envy of all 26 year old men at that stage," said Woot.

"Except that they mustn't find out about me," said Mrs Yoop, "I'll have to stay in this house and take all my outings and exercise with you by heading deeper into the mountains, away from the escarpments we saw on the map. They're as far as anyone in Francis's Blue Mountains can walk, not close enough to our location to see this house."

"I knew, when I asked you, that I would never be able to show you off, but the main thing is that we would always be together," said Woot, "And I can bring you everything you need from the shops in the populated areas."

"Would you ever be tempted to go off and leave me?"

"No Mrs Yoop. It would never enter my heart to do that. You're the most beautiful of all women in Oz, and I'm sure on earth too. Being a giantess makes you even more beautiful again. All I long for is to be with you for the rest of our lives. What joy we could have exploring the unknown parts of these mountains. Francis told me quite a lot, while we were stocking the airship with supplies for my trip to Yoop Castle and Australia. I have inherited all this, but you are the only person who can add meaning to it all."

"Then yes, I will marry you," said Mrs Yoop.

She leaned down and put her arms around him. As she felt the natural need to straighten her back again, she stood upright, and they both quickly realised that she had lifted Woot high off the ground. She laughed and looked happily into his eyes.

Woot moved his face a little closer. He saw that he meant to kiss her, and she turned her head a little to respond. Her lips were larger than his, but this only made the experience more enjoyable for Woot.

"I'm so completely in love with you," he said.

"What a lovely thought with which to settle into a new country," said Mrs Yoop pleasantly.

In all honesty he had not a thought of their first meeting in his mind.

After a few days, Mrs Yoop's giant bed had been constructed, as well as a giant table for her meals, as well as a normal width but very high chair for Woot, so that he could sit at the table with her.

When they danced to a wind-up gramophone, she would either hold him in her arms like a child, level with her head and upper body or let him stand on the table beside her and limit her movements. They had tried dancing with him on the floor, but there was no comfort for her in the way her hands had to reach down, and his had to stretch upwards.

"I wonder if Ozma can still see us in her Magic Picture," said Woot, "I believe they call it voyeurism here."

"She won't watch us for too long," said Mrs Yoop, "I wouldn't in her place."

"Why not?"

"If I were Princess Ozma right now, I'd be too jealous of Mrs Yoop," she mused.

Woot built her a giant picnic basket, and stocked it well with supplies. The next day they went for a long walk in the Blue Mountains, in the direction headed further away from civilization. They found a nice grassy spot and sat down together for a picnic.

"It's ironic," said Woot, "When I first met you, I thought of a giantess as an impossible unattainable fantasy, which no Winkie girl could ever measure up to. Isn't it an ironic outcome, that you were able to make my fantasy come true, not in the magical Land of Oz, but in the Australian Blue Mountains, where no magic exists? It's the final proof that I was right all along, that we are better off away from Oz."

"Woot, your words have transformed me in a way that no Yookoohoo magic ever could. I am forever in love with you too."

They had been heading west during their walk.

"It seems that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west here," said Woot, "Do you realize what that means?"

"No," said Mrs Yoop, "Tell me, darling."

"It means that whenever we take these walks out here in the mornings, we will have our backs to the sun, and we will again on the way home, if we go back in the afternoons."

"That is a nice thing to know," said Mrs Yoop, "We should always get back before nightfall, unless a full moon is expected. We don't want to meet any animals out here."

"Especially me," said Woot, "I hope they don't have bears in Australia."

"I'll come with you, whenever you come out without the dirigible," said Mrs Yoop, "And I will always protect you."

"Thank you, Mrs Yoop."

She gave a start.

"What?" he asked.

"I just realised that you won't be able to call me Mrs Yoop, when we're married. I don't remember the name I had all those years ago in Oz. I think, from what you've told me about earth people's names so far, I'll need a first name, and I'd rather not go on using my former husband's name, even before I become Mrs Woot. Can you suggest a name you'd like to call me?"

"Maybe something to remember our home countries," said Woot, "Would you like me to call you Gillikie?"

"It does have a lovely sound," said Mrs Yoop, "Let's use that name from now on."

Woot opened his backpack. Mrs Yoop had carried all their picnic supplies in the giant picnic basket. In time they would make a giant rug the same way that they had made the giant bedclothes. When they were married, Woot would put his normal sized pillow on the giant bed, not as far back as the small mattress which served as Mrs Yoop's pillow. For now, he had brought his backpack with him to conceal something up until this moment.

He took out a giant ring that he had made himself.

"In that case, Gillikie, I'd like to ask you more properly this time: Will you marry me?"

"That's why you wanted to wrap your hands around my ring finger," said Mrs Yoop, "It looks like you got the size right. I'd like to more properly say that I will."

She extended her hand in front of him, spreading her fingers apart, so that he was able to slide the ring gently onto her finger.

Woot and Gillikie gave each other a long cuddle in the early afternoon sun.


End file.
